This year I would like to present you some important cultural monuments which I’ve seen in the hope to motivate you, too, to go and visit them. I’m going to show you pictures, texts with some questions and also a quiz and it’s intended to be an interdisciplinary work in German, English and Italian. I would like to slowly add some more articles in this sense, if I find the time and if you should be interested in this. In class students could also discuss why they would rather visit one place instead of another. Try to find more information on the monuments shown here.

Unjumble the words in bold letters.

The Alhambra is located on a strategic point, with a view over the whole city of Granada/Andalucia and the a) wodaem (la Vega), and this fact leads to believe that other buildings were already on that side before the Moslems arrived. I have, however, to say that this castle with its great gardens and fountains or its b) strapmar belong to the most beautiful cultural sights I’ve ever seen. I would like to mention „Il Patio de los leones“ The first historical documents c)nwonk about the Alhambra date from the 9th century.

It was only after the fall of Cordoba, in 1236, that the centre of Moorish power was transferred to d) adanarG – bringing a massive influx of nobles, architects and money which led to the construction of a fabulous new castle on the hill across the river valley. It seems that the e) dirsaN Dynasty founded this castle in order to avoid persecution by Ferdinando III of Castile and his Reconquista. Yusuf I (1333-1353) and Mohammed V (1353-1391) are responsible for most of the constructions we can still admire today.

In 1492 Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinando of Aragon concluded the Catholic Reconquista in the victory over the battle of Granada.

Does this date remind you of another very important event? I would like to get a comment on this!!

The Hermitage

Substitute the words in bold letters with another word of the same meaning:

Is in a 1)magnificent palace from which tsars ruled Russia for one-and-a halve centruies. The Hermitage is one of the world’s 2)greatest museums. You can be 3)absorbed for days by its treasures.

The present baroque/rococo Winter Palace was commissioned from Rastrelli (Italian architect naturalized Russian) in 1754 by the Empress Elisabeth. Katharina the Great and her successors had most of the interior4) remodelled in classical style by 1837. After having been destroyed by a fire it was restored almost identically. It remained the imperial home until 1917. The Tsar Nicholas II was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February of that year.

Out of six buildings of the main museum complex, four, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage, are partially open to the public. The other two are Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists costs 5)several times as much as the fee paid by Russian citizens. However, the entrance

is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors and daily for students and children. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Anne Boleyn, was the second 1………. of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elisabeth I and she grew up in the Hever castle near Edenbridge, (which is tucked away) in the beautiful green 2………………countryside. Anne Boleyn war arrested on 2nd May 1536 and accused of 3……………….., treason and incest and executed only a few days later in the Tower of London. Kent is also referred to as the garden of England and is situated approximately 30 miles south east of London. We travelled by car to Kent on its 4…………. streets which were completely enveloped by trees. The castle and especially the gate house is exeptional because it is still the same as when it was 5……………. by William de Hever in 1270.

Anne Boleyn was arrested on 2nd May 1536 and later executed in the Tower of London.